Automatic boiler-feeder.



No.*7l0,3|7. v Patented Sept. 30,1902; 4 c. cummmes.

AUTOMATIC BOILER FEEDER.

(Application filed .Sept. 20, 1901.\

manual.)

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IJNTTED STATES v i FFIcE.

CHARLES CUMMINGS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO AUTO- MATIC BOILER FEED-WATER REGULATOR CO., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC BOILER-FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,317, dated September 30, 1902. Application filed September 20. 1901. Serial No. 75,714. (No model.)

To all) whom, it mag/concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES CUMMINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Boiler- Feeders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

IO My invention relates to that class of devices for automatically supplying water to boilers in which an outlet is made from the boiler in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level, whereby water or steam may pass therefrom, according to whether said level is exceeded or not, and means for utilizing the differences between the physical properties of the water and steam that pass said outlet, so that they may control the feeding of water to the boiler, and thus maintain the predetermined water-level.

My invention consists, in connection with said boiler-outlet, of means for differentiating the pressures of the waterand steam passing from the outlet and a device differentially affected by the difference in pressure between the water and steam and adapted to control the feed-water supply accordingly.

My invention also consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which I shall hereinafter fully describe.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective automatic boiler-feed 5 adapted especially for the boilers of automobiles.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the figure is a view, partly in section, of my device, showing the general arrangement of 0 parts.

A is an ordinary vertical tubular boiler,such as is generally used on steam-automobiles. Near the central portion of the boiler is a tube a, which has small 'holes a in it at the 'predetermined water-level. A plug (0 is screwed into it; lower end, while its upper end is tapped to receive one end of the pipe 13, which is provided with-a valve 1).

C is a casing containing a wire-gauze screen c and a plate 0, provided with an opening 0 through its center. A petcock c is also provided to draw oif any particles of solid matter which may lodge in front of the screen 0. The pipe B is screwed into one end of this casing C, and a pipe D is screwedinto the other end, as shown.

E is a condenser-casing. It contains the coiled tubing F and is provided with heads c, an inlet 6, and an outlet 6 through which the water circulating around the coil F finds 6o ingress and egress. The coil F is connected at its upper end with pipe D and at its lower end with a pipe G, suitable stuffing-boxes being provided to prevent leakage of water around the connections. His a connection to the lower end of which the pipe G is joined. The connection H has a cylinder It, provided with side openings h", connecting the cylinder-chamber 77, with the feed-water pipes N and O. The part of cyl- 7o inder 72. below the chamber 71 is nicely bored to receive the piston I, which moves freely in the cylinder, but is closely fitted, so as to make it as nearly steam and 'water tight as possible. Into the piston is screwed the plug 75 1 which holds the-plate t" in its place and makes it steam and water. tight around its edges. The plate 71 is perforated by a small hole, as shown, drilled through its center. The plug 1' is drilled partly through in the vertical direction to meet the cross-openings i It is also squared at the top, so that a wrench can be applied for screwing it firmly to its seat. A hole 71 is drilled in a vertical direction partly through the piston I, upon the upper edges of which the plate 1" rests.

A fine wire screen it is placed near the bottom of the cylinder, as shown. Any sediment collecting below the screen can be drawn off bymeans of the .petcock h. A stem 1' is secured to the plug i and'extends to the by-pass valve J, but does not prevent said valve from being fully seated when the piston I is at the bottom of the cylinder.

A stop is provided for the purpose of limiting the movement of the piston in the upward direction. It is held in place by the stem 7L and rests on the plug 71 It is recessed at the top end to connect with the two openings i I The valve J is recessed at its upper end to take the springj. At the lower part of the recess a hole 7" is drilled to meet the openingsj K is an ordinary plunger-pump for feeding the boiler with water. This pump is supposed to have proper connections with the engine.

'M is a pipe connecting the tank L with the water-inlet e to the condenser-casing, through whichthe feed-water flows around the coil F and out through the outlet 6 and pipe N and through the cylinder-opening 71 into the chamber 7%, filling it, and it then passes through the oppositecylinder-opening it and pipe 0 into pump K.

P is a pipe from the pump to the boiler. It has the check-valve p and glove-valve p.

Q is a by-pass pipe from pipe P back to the by-pass valve J. The pump K forces the water either into the boiler through the feed-pipe P or back through the by-pass pipe Q and through the valve Jinto the chamber 71 according to whether the by-pass valve J is closed or open.

The feed-pump K being always in motion when the actuating-engine is running, the water going to the pump is either forced into the boiler or else-it must circulate through the bypass valve J.

The object of this invention being to auto matically open and close the by-pass valve J at the proper time, I Willdescribe this operation. Suppose the engine and pump to be running, the boiler making steam at the required pressure, and the water-level in the boiler to be below the holes a in the tube a. This state of things indicates that more water is needed and that the pump should be forcing water into the boiler. The water being below the holes a, steam will flow upward through the tube a into the pipe B and into the casing O. A portion of the steam will pass through the screen 0 and on through the small opening 0 and through the pipe D into the coil F, where it is condensed by the feed-water surrounding the coil. Under this condition there is no pressure in the coil nor in the pipe G, leading into the cylinder 71. There is no pressure then on the piston I tending to force it upward against the action of the springj, and therefore the by-pass valve J remains closed, as shown. The water going to the pump must go into the boiler as long as this condition lasts. The water from the condensed steam will pass upward through the small opening in plate 11' and into the chamber k and is carried with the feed-water back into the boiler. Now suppose that the pump has worked long enough to raise the water-level in the boiler so that it covers the holes a. This condition indicates that there is enough water in the boiler and that the supply ought to be shut off. The water-level in the boiler being higher than the holes 64 in tube a, water instead of steam will pass up said tube and flow to the plate a, part of it going through the small opening 0 and flowing through coil F toward the opening in plate 2', through which some of it passes into the chamber 773. Onlyasmall part of the water from the boiler will pass through the opening in plate 2" until the coil F and the attached piping between the two plates 0' and i are completely filled with water. Then as much water will fiow from the piping and coil through the opening in plate 1 as flows into them through the opening in plate 0. Water being non-con densable, the pressure in the piping and coil between the plates 0 and t, and consequently on the piston I, will now be one-half the boilerpressure. I will state here that the quantity of water in the coil of the condenser and its pipe connections between the two plates 0 and t", due to condensing the steam that passes through the openings 0 in any given time, is much less than if solid water from the boiler had passed through the opening 0' during the same given time. If the water due to the condensed steam were equal in weight to the quantity passing into the condenser when solid water flows from the boiler, the abovedescribed apparatus would be rendered inoperative, because then the coils and pipes between the two plates would always be full of water under a pressure equal to half of that in the boiler when the openings in the two plates are equal in area.

The pressure between the two plates which actuates the piston I can be varied greatly by making the opening through the plate 1) larger or smaller than that in the plate 0. If the opening in the plate t" is smaller than that in the plate 0', the pressure will be greater than one-half the boiler-pressure. If it is larger, then the pressure will be less than one-half of the boiler-pressure. I prefer to make the openings in the two plates of equal area, and then, as before stated, the pressure actuating the piston I is equal to half that in the boiler. Where in a similar system any number of such plates with equal-sized openingsare used, the diiterence in pressure between anytwo adjoiningchambers orspaces between the plates is equal to the initialpressure divided by the number of plates.

Resuming the description of the operation of the apparatus shown, the pressure of the water on the piston I will be more than enough to move it in a vertical direction and overcome the resistance of the springj and open the by-p'ass valve J. The by-pass valve J being now raised from its seat, water no longer passes into the boiler, because it finds a passage of less resistance through the by-pass pipe Q and valve J into the chamber 72 through which it continues to circulate to and through the pump K until the water again lowers in the boiler, permitting steam to pass through the system, when the by-pass valve is again closed and Water is then pumped into the boiler. This action and reaction can be continued as long as desired. As nearly all of the heat contained in the steam and IIO Water taken from the boiler is absorbed by the feed-water, there is no loss of heat except that due to radiation.

It might be inferred from the foregoing description that the proper action of the apparatus depended on completely filling and emptying the coil and piping between the pipes c and i and that the piston I will move in the direction for opening the by-pass valve only when the pipes and coil are completely filled with water and in the opposite direction only when they are free from water. This is notthe case, however. In practice the action is quite different. In fact, the coil and connections when in operation are never entirely free from and seldom full-of water.

An ordinary steam-gage, connected anywhere between the two small openings, shows that the variations of pressure take place gradually from the highest to the lowest, and vice versa.

From the description of the apparatus it will be seen that it is designed for obtaining the result desired by means of aby-pass valve and a piston actuated by the varying pressure produced by a combination of mechanism and principle there explained. The same principle, however, admits of different combinations for obtaining the same and other results. Forexample,the well-known directacting steam-pump is generally used for forcing feed-water into steam-boilers. Such a pump can be automatically ontrolled, so as to supply the boiler with the proper amount of water, by means of a valve in the steampipe controlled by the differentiation of the pressures, as described, whereby the pump will work faster or slower, as required by the level of the water in the boiler.

The tube a in the boiler from which steam and water is taken to actuate the mechanism described is shown located in the center of the boiler; but where the automobile will have to climb heavy grades it will be a better arrangement to take the steam and water from a tube located nearer the rear end of the vehicle. By so doing the holes a will be covered with water, when it on a level read they would be uncovered. The holes ct being covered prevent the pump from forcing water into the boiler for a time, at least, when it is hard worked to make steam for ascending the grade.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet havinga passage, to convey water or steam from the boiler, according to Whether said predetermined water-level is exceeded or not, a condenser in said passage, for condensing the steam passing therethrough, and differentiatingits pressure from that of the water, and a device diffcrentially controlledby said differentiated pressures, for controlling the water supplied to the boiler.

2. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying Water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined Water-level therein, said outlet having a passage, to convey waterorsteam from the boiler, according to whether said predetermined water-level is exceeded or not, a condenser-coil let into said passage for condensing the steam passing therethrough, and differentiating its pressure from that of the water, a device differentially controlled by said differentiated pressures for controlling the water supplied to the boiler, and a passage for the feed-Water from the source of supply to the boiler, said passage surrounding the condenser coil, whereby the latter is rendered operative.

In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the'boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet having a passage, to convey water or steam from the boiler,

according to whether said predetermined wafer-level is exceeded or not, means, in said passage, for differentiating the pressures between the water and steam flowing therethrough, a passage from the source of feedwater supply to the boiler, a return by-pass in said passage, and a valve differentially controlled by said differentiated pressures, for controlling both the passage and the by-pass, whereby the feed-water is directed alternately through either.

4. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler. in the horizontal plane of' the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet having a passage, to convey water or steam from the boiler, according to whether said predetermined water-level is exceeded or not, a condenser in said passage, for condensing the steam passing therethrough and differentiating its pressure from that of the water, a passage from the source of feed-water supply to the boiler, a return by-pass in said passage, and a valve differentiallycontrolled by said differentiated pressures, for controlling both the passage and the by-pass, whereby the feed-water is directed alternately through either.

5. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet having a passage, to convey water or steam from the boiler, according to whether said predetermined Water-level is exceeded or not, a condenser-coil let into said passage for condensing the steam passing therethrough and differentiating its pressure from that of the water, a passage for the feed-water from the source of supply to the boiler, said passage surrounding the condenser-coil, a return by-pass in said passage, and a valve differentially controlled by said differentiated pressures, for controlling both the passage and the by-pass whereby the feed-water is directed alternately through either.

6. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of a continuously-driven pump, having a communication with the water-supply tank and with the boiler, a return by-pass in said communication, a valve adapted to control alternately said communication and bypass, an outlet from the boiler in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, a passage from said outlet connecting it with the valve, and a means in said passage for differentiating the pressures between the water and steam flowing therethrough, wherebythe valve is differentially controlled, to control the main communication or the bypass alternately.

7. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of a continuously-driven pump, having a communication with the water-supply tank and With the boiler, a return by-pass in I said communication, a valve adapted to control alternately said communication and bypass, an outlet from the boilerin the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, a passage from said outlet connectingit with the valve, and a condenser-coil let into said passage and surrounded by the main water-feed communication, to condense the steannand differentiate its pressure from that of the Water, whereby the valve is differentially controlled,to control the main communication or the by-pass alternately.

8. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water level therein, said outlet having a passage to convey Water or steam from the boiler, according to Whether said predetermined water-level is exceeded 01- not, means in said passage, for differentiating the pressures between the water and steam flowing therethrough, a fluid-pressure reducer in said passage, and a device differentially controlled by said'differentiated pressures for controlling the water supplied to the boiler.

9. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet having a passage to convey water or steam from the boiler, according to whether said predetermined water-level is exceeded or not, a condenser in said passage, for differentiating the pressures between the water and steam flowing therethrough, a fluid-pressure reducer in said passage consisting of plates or disks each with an aperture smaller than the interior diameter of said passage, and a device difierentially controlled by said differentiated pressures for controlling the water supplied to the boiler.

10. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of controllable means for supplying water to the boiler, an outlet. from the boiler, in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, said outlet having a passage, to convey water or steam from the boiler, according to whether said predetermined Water-level is exceeded or not,a condenserin said passage, for condensing the steam passing therethrough and differentiating its pressure from that of the water, plates or disks in said passage, in advance of and behind said condenser, said plates 'ordisks, each having apertures smaller than the diameter of the passage, whereby the fluid-pressure in the passage is reduced, and a device differentially controlled by said differentiated pressures for controlling the water supplied to the boiler.

11. In an automatic boiler-feed, the combination of a continuously-driven pump, having a communication with the Water-supply tank and with the boiler, a return by-pass in said communication, a valve adapted to control alternately said communication and bypass, an outlet from the boiler in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-level therein, a passage from said outlet connect-- ing it with the valve, a condenser-coil let into said passage and surrounded by the main water feed communication, to condense the steam, and differentiate its pressure from that of the Water, whereby the valve is differentially controlled, to control the main communication or the by-pass alternately, and disks or plates in said steam and water passage in advance of and behind said condenser-coil and having apertures smaller than the diameter of the passage,whereby the fiuidpressure in the passage is reduced.

12. In an automatic boiler-feed dependent for operation upon the water or steam passing from the boiler according to whether a predetermined water-level in the boiler is exceeded or not, the means for obtaining an outlet for said water or steam from the boiler, consisting of a tube in the boiler having one end closed, and the other end communicating with the connections to the operative parts of the automatic feed, and a hole in said tube in the horizontal plane of the predetermined water-le'vel, to permit water or steam to enter said tube, according to whether said level is exceeded or not.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES CUMMINGS.

\Vitnesses:

WALTER F. VANE, D. B. RICHARDS. 

